Colombian presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday said he would not allow another cross-border attack on FARC rebels, following a statement by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who had called Santos a “threat” to the region.
In an interview with Caracol Radio, the presidential candidate pointed out that it was not him, but other candidates who had stated they would attack rebels hiding in a neighboring country, but that Chavez never mentioned this.
However, on a summit of letfist Latin American leaders in Caracas on Monday, teh Venezuelan Head of State explicitally called Santos “a threat to us all.”
“He comes after me, which shows that he wants to interfere in the Colombian elections,” Santos told the radio station, without wanting to get further into the matter.
Former defense minister Santos and the Venezuelan President clashed on numerous occasions over a March 2008 attack on a FARC camp in Ecuador and Chavez’s alleged support for the guerrilla movement.